GOP war revived in Georgia

Sexism, arrogance, lying and distortion are among the charges. | AP Photo

“I think it’s very important to have a nominee who has been fully vetted,” Kingston said to about 30 voters at the home of Ronald Reagan’s former Georgia campaign chairman, nestled in the woods of Ellijay. “We got some folks in this race that I think the Democrats would just eat alive in the general election.”

Perdue accuses Kingston of spewing “lies” about his business record like a typical politician. He says he was brought on board at Pillowtex as it was going into bankruptcy proceedings, decimated as manufacturing sectors were struggling nationwide. As for Haggar, he says free trade agreements endorsed by Congress forced companies like it to move jobs offshore to compete.

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“There’s a little desperation,” Perdue said of Kingston.

Handel vs. ‘good old boys’

A few weeks ago, Handel was seen as fading. Then Perdue dismissed her as “the high school graduate in this race.” The condescending comment — Perdue now says he “overreached” — went viral. And Handel has used it to reinvigorate her campaign.

“There are some who may think I’m not smart enough,” she told a gathering of supporters at a Flying Biscuit restaurant in her hometown of Roswell. “I’m proud of the fact that I was able to overcome long odds.”

Handel, who left home at the age of 17 from an abusive family, has made her mark in Georgia as a scrappy campaigner who’s unafraid of controversy. During the 2010 gubernatorial primary, she vowed repeatedly to clean up the “good old boy” network in Georgia politics and accused her opponents of ethical improprieties. She finished first in the primary, then barely lost to Nathan Deal in a bitter runoff that is still resonating today.

Several GOP sources said that Deal allies have quietly moved to shut down the money spigot to Handel, which helps account for the meager $337,000 in her campaign account. Moreover, the network of Sonny Perdue donors who helped Handel in the 2010 governor’s run are now firmly on David Perdue’s side. A Deal spokeswoman and Handel both downplayed the past disputes, but others say the ill will still lingers.

If Handel wins the nomination, her critics say she’ll have a hard time uniting the party given her scorched-earth campaigning.

“The anti-Handel people aren’t going to come out and support Nunn, but they are probably not going to send [Handel] any more money,” said Eric Johnson, who lost the 2010 gubernatorial primary against Handel and now backs Kingston. “They are going to let the outside forces run the race, and let the chips fall where they may.”

Handel, 52, insists she’s an “unwavering conservative fighter” rather than a “go along to get along” Republican like Kingston or Perdue. She claims she would take that same battle to the Senate in the mold of Ted Cruz, arguing in an interview that it’s time for Mitch McConnell to go and that there should be “new leadership” atop the Senate GOP Conference.

But while Handel is running like a Palin-style conservative, her critics say she was groomed by the party establishment — having once worked for Sonny Perdue — and took a sharp turn to the right after falling in the governor’s race. Her profile grew in 2012 when, as a senior executive for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure foundation, she tried to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

But her opponents are quick to note that she supported a contract for the organization seven years earlier when serving on the county commission, around the same time as she backed funding for the gay rights organization at the heart of the Gingrey attack.

Handel dismisses the criticism, noting her staunch social conservative stands, like opposing federal benefits for gay and lesbian domestic partners. In the interview, she wouldn’t say whether she believes homosexuality is a choice.

“I’m not going to get into the science,” she said, “about any of that.”